Yankee Trainer Assumes a Position of Importance

By TYLER KEPNER

Published: March 24, 2004

SARASOTA, Fla., March 23 &#0151; The Red Sox are coming to Legends Field on Wednesday, and for once, the Yankees may not even notice. Their sights are set far beyond Boston, their division rival.

"It's coming at a time when we have Japan on our minds," Manager Joe Torre said.

On Thursday, the Yankees will board a charter flight to Tokyo, where they will open the season with a two-game series against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on March 30 and 31. Each player has received a booklet about the trip, with four pages devoted to jet lag. Trainers will address the team on Wednesday with detailed instructions.

"The minute that game is over in Clearwater," the trainer, Gene Monahan, said of the Yankees' game against the Phillies on Thursday, "we've got to start gearing ourselves for Japan time, physiologically."

George Steinbrenner, the principal owner, who will not make the trip, frets endlessly about any disadvantage he believes the Yankees may experience. Steinbrenner endorsed the trip, a club official said, out of respect for outfielder Hideki Matsui and for the owner of the Yomiuri Giants, Tsuneo Watanabe. The Yankees have a working agreement with the Giants &#0151; a Giants team photo adorns the wall behind the receptionist at Legends Field &#0151; and the teams will play an exhibition game Sunday.

The Yankees are trying to prepare for and prevent the dehydration and muscle cramps that a 17-hour flight can produce. They are sending three massage therapists on the trip, and Monahan will spend the flight buzzing through the cabin, reminding players to drink at least 16 ounces of water or sports drink every hour.

"I'll be going around telling them the correct times to eat and how to take on fluids," Monahan said. "We're pushing fluids on this trip."

After the Yankees' flight stops in Chicago, Monahan will have a strict schedule for the players. He wants them to stay awake for at least two hours, then take a six-hour nap. Monahan wants the players to stay awake for the last eight hours of the flight, because the plane is scheduled to land in Tokyo after midnight on Saturday.

"We want to make sure that when they get to the hotel at that hour of the night," Monahan said, "they can get into bed and go to sleep and wake up between 10 and noon and feel somewhat on their time, as though they had gone to bed in Japan the night before."

Players will not be allowed to drink alcohol on the flight, Monahan said, and contact lenses must be taken out.

The Yankees will not have much time to adjust; they have a 3:30 p.m. workout on Saturday, and on Sunday morning some players will board Black Hawk helicopters for a visit to a military base. Their first exhibition game is Sunday night.

The Yankees have traveled to Japan before. A week after losing the 1955 World Series, they made a barnstorming trip through Hawaii, Japan, Okinawa and the Philippines. (Their record: 24-0-1.) "It was an experience," said Yogi Berra, who made the trip then and will make it now. "It might be even better now."

The Yankees are taking five players with them who have played in the United States-Japan All-Star series. Third baseman Alex Rodriguez made the trip in 1996, when he played for the Seattle Mariners.

"We left from L.A.," Rodriguez said. "But it was rough. I can sleep on planes, though. Dinner and two movies, and I'm out."

Torre said he would load up on DVD's, at the suggestion of his daughter. If Monahan takes a break from checking on the players, Torre will be ready for him. "We play hearts," Torre said. "I told Geno, `We're only going to play on one leg of the trip, and we're not going to play from here to Chicago.' "

INSIDE PITCH

The Yankees announced an agreement on a two-year contract with closer MARIANO RIVERA on Tuesday. Rivera will earn $10.5 million in each year of the deal, including an option year in 2007. The option will kick in if Rivera finishes 114 games over the 2005 and 2006 seasons, or 60 games in 2006. "I was born to be a Yankee," Rivera said at a news conference, adding later, "To have a chance to go into the Hall of Fame with the pinstripes, that's big for me." GEORGE STEINBRENNER attended the news conference and wrapped an arm around Rivera. "Now we've got to get Joe done," Steinbrenner told Rivera, referring to a two-year contract extension for JOE TORRE. . . . JOS&#0201; CONTRERAS held the Cincinnati Reds hitless through the first five innings of the Yankees' 3-2 victory Tuesday night. . . . BERNIE WILLIAMS (appendectomy) will make his spring debut with four or five at-bats in a minor league game on Wednesday. Williams will not accompany the team to Japan, but he may be on the active roster so he can play when the team resumes its schedule on April 6.